By Garrett Hanks Wolf Creek pass in the San Juan mountains of Colorado serves as the tipping point between the westward San Juan basin, home to the recently rediscovered San Juan cutthroat trout, and the Rio Grande cutthroat’s namesake river to the east. Unlike trout, bear, mule deer and other wildlife are unhindered by the ridgeline; their tracks freely cross the divide. Look north and you’ll notice the burn scar from the West Fork fire of 2013. Setting off south along the Continental Divide Trail, you quickly…
Growing up in New Mexico, I took for granted that there were fishing spots where no one would want to go. Steep hikes, brush and snags everywhere, places that required too much work to get to. “Joke’s on them,” was my thinking; if only people knew that it was so much more fun than work. The people who knew…
It’s difficult to remember exactly when it began, our annual New Years fishing trip on the San Juan River below Navajo Dam. We had hair and it wasn’t gray, and some of us still had muscles. We brought our kitchen kits and coolers, cooking our meals and washing dishes, then staying up half the night playing cribbage,…
Effective partnerships win The 2014 listing of the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse as a federally endangered species caused the closure of an expansive meadow along the Rio Cebolla to all uses – camping, fishing and especially grazing. As a gathering pasture in the spring and fall, the meadow was critical to the operations of…
SANTA FE, N.M. (December 5, 2019) – Trout Unlimited has long understood the value of partners and strives to work together toward a common goal in numerous instances, and that standard has recently paid off for staff in New Mexico. Along with San Diego and Cebolla/San Antonio Grazing Associations, Trout Unlimited was awarded ‘partner of the year’ award from…
Extensive efforts in southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico to restore habitat for the Rio Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) have been underway since at least 2003. State agencies, tribes, federal agencies and Trout Unlimited have cooperated to bring this species back to more of its historic range, applying expert knowledge and considerable experience to restore this important native species, which is also the state…
It’s impressive to think about what our bodies do for us while on the hunt for trout. Clawing our way through thick brush, scooting down steep slopes or lunging to jump from boulder to boulder touches on only some of the contortions we make while fishing. Watching Toner Mitchell, New Mexico’s water and habitat program…
